e x e c u t i v e f o r u m
The Six
Competencies of
a CEO
Modesto A. Maidique, Candace Atamanik, & Ruthann B. Perez
L
eadership is inextricably intertwined with who summarize our findings by identifying six critical compe-
we are—we lead from the inside. Who we are tencies for effective CEOs. The six critical competencies
informs our moral compass, our ability to listen, are self-awareness (understanding of the “self”), having
to make wise judgments, to persuade and inspire oth- a moral compass, being an effective listener, possessing
ers to follow, and perhaps most important, as Winston good judgment, being a persuasive communicator, and
Churchill admonished, to tirelessly persevere in the leading with tenacity (see Table 1).
pursuit of the ultimate goal.
Based on these insights, we constructed the concen-
The self is the centerpiece of leadership. In a 2012 in- tric circle “Heart of Leadership Model” to visualize
terview with the New York Times, Steelcase CEO James our findings (see Figure 1).
P. Hackett stated, “I’ve met just about every CEO who
runs a big company. The ones I’m most impressed
1. Self-Awareness
with do not seem packaged. But they have this sense
of peace, this self-awareness, that says, ‘I understand Effective leadership is deeply rooted in knowing yourself
who I am.’” and understanding all that implies. Approximately half
of the CEOs pointed to self-awareness as being at the
It was just such factors that were identified by twenty-
core of everything they do. Some of the forty-two com-
five experienced and successful CEOs of multibillion-
ments included knowing who you are, being consistent
dollar organizations when we asked them, “What does
with your values, being honest with yourself, and trust-
a business leader need to do well to be effective?”
ing your instincts. A study of more than forty thousand
After analyzing their 442 comments and 178 indi- leaders published in the Gallup Management Journal also
vidual ideas, we employed qualitative factor analysis to indicated that a leader must be clear on his strengths and
WINTER 2 0 1 4 31
Self- Moral
Listening Judgment Visionating Tenacity Outliers
Awareness Compass
Respondents 12 18 19 20 19 16
(Total = 25) 48.0% 72.0% 76.0% 80.0% 76.0% 64.0%
Thoughts 16 28 31 41 24 32 25
(TOTAL = 178) 9.0% 15.7% 17.4% 23.0% 13.5% 18.0% 14.0%
Comments 42 55 64 100 61 67 53
(TOTAL = 442) 9.5% 12.4% 14.5% 22.6% 13.8% 15.2% 11.9%
TabLE 1. T h e T op S i x C omp e tenci es
weaknesses: “Knowing who they are—and who they are s uccessfully taken on in the past. The leadership team
not.” Drawing from his own experience, the late Steve was in agreement, they gave themselves plenty of time
Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology, Inc., told us, to fully evaluate the options, and Mackey even relo-
“Really good leaders have to have the ability for intro- cated to Boulder, Colorado, for a year to take charge.
spection. They have to be able to look at themselves, [to] The entire analysis indicated this would be a big win
see if there are gaps, and [if] there is something that they for the company.
don’t know or understand.”
Despite how sensible the deal seemed, or how great
Knowing yourself and listening to that inner voice can it looked on paper, Mackey’s intuition kept telling
be the CEO’s most important competitive advantage. him otherwise. Mackey recalls, “I think my little voice
In late 1997, after a series of highly successful acquisi- was telling me not to do this deal and I overrode that
tions, John Mackey, co-CEO and founder of Whole because on paper, it seemed to make sense, and I just
Foods, was presented with the opportunity of acquir- didn’t understand. It was like, we’re not paying a high
ing Amwin, a mail-order supplier of health supple- price, good sales, good growth, good prospects, it’s
ments, which would provide the platform for Whole got intellectual capital. We brought in the investment
Foods to emerge in the Internet world. The handling bankers, and they ran all kinds of numbers. The ra-
of this acquisition mirrored those Whole Foods had tional mind is a great example of overriding that little
inner voice because I really wanted to do the deal and
I just reasoned if we have problems, we’ll deal with it,
and we can fix it.” Whole Foods proceeded with the
decision to acquire Amwin.
As it turns out, all the strengths Mackey and his team
saw ended up being the biggest weaknesses of the deal.
By overriding his self-doubt and going against his in-
stincts, Mackey took on a whirlwind of unforeseen
problems that they were not equipped to fix, mean-
while dealing with the merging of different cultures,
finding a replacement for Amwin’s founder, and a sud-
den saturation of the competitive environment. Ulti-
mately the deal cost Whole Foods $100 million. Had
Mackey paid attention to his gut instinct, this setback
may have been avoided.
The Whole Foods story was consistent with many of
Figure 1 . T he H ea r t o f Lea d er s h ip the examples of unsuccessful decisions that other CEOs
32 leader to leader
shared during their interviews. As promising as the data to value them.” This becomes the first step in getting
may appear, the CEO should be wary of overriding the your team interested and engaged in your mission as
accumulated unconscious wisdom contained in his or a leader. Listening not only builds the foundation for
her intuition. the future, but it is also the key in solving problems.
Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, told us,
“You have to be a good listener” and “You’ve got to
2. Having a Moral Compass be able to identify good people.” It is only with that
Understanding yourself builds the foundation for pos- understanding and connection that a leader can move
sessing good judgment, but 72 percent of the CEOs forward with the full support of his or her team. CEOs
agreed that the direction in which those instincts take who fail to actively listen to their teams and to the
us, our moral compass, is critical in successful leader- environment are destined to miss the critical links that
ship. David Parker, COO of the Archstone Partner- drive success.
ships, stated that having a moral compass precedes
making effective decisions: “You have to have high
principles and standards about making the right deci- 4. Possessing Good Judgment
sions.” Seventeen other executives supported this with Who you are—your life journey and its interpreta-
fifty-five comments encompassing honesty, integrity, tion, your personality, and your values all play roles
and trustworthiness, each one reflecting the importance in making decisions. Indeed, judgment was the most
of getting things done the right way. frequently mentioned factor that our research pin-
Bill Amelio, CEO of CHC Helicopter and former pointed. But, alas, man does not prosper by judg-
CEO of Lenovo, explained that if he is going to bring ment alone.
someone on board, the person must be trustworthy, The overall consensus was that without good judg-
stating, “Trust and confidence are critical.” He further ment, a leader is unlikely to be successful. Judgment,
explains that “if you work for me, I’m not going to it appears, was a necessary—but not sufficient—
be able to watch what you do all day. . . . I’ve got to competency. The hundred comments shared by CEOs
trust you.” CEOs must not only base their decisions on describe judgment in part as willingness to take risks
doing the right thing, they must also surround them- intelligently, ability to face issues, and collecting and
selves with individuals who possess an equally strong synthesizing information and data.
moral compass.
In order to make effective judgments, Micky Arison,
chairman of the board of Carnival Corporation, be-
3. Being an Effective Listener lieves the individual must be “smart in that they’ve
learned from their life experiences.” Ray Stata, co-
The CEOs in our sample agreed that it’s critical to be
founder and chairman of the board of Analog Devices,
an effective listener. Listening is key to developing rela-
Inc., puts it this way: “Part of the package is judgment.
tionships, decision making, and problem solving. More
It’s listening to a whole bunch of things and coming
than 75 percent of interviewees cited being an effective
up with a conclusion that is in the right direction and
listener as a fundamental part of being a successful
respected by others. This is judgment.”
leader; this encompasses more than just hearing the
words a person says, it includes listening to everything
that is going on. The sixty-four comments included 5. Persuading: Being a Good
knowing people, truly valuing them, listening, devel-
oping trustful relationships, and having empathy. Pier
“Visionator”
Luigi Foschi, chairman and CEO of Carnival Asia, More than three-quarters of our interviewees agreed
told us that “in managing people, you have to be able that the work of a leader is not only to possess good
WINTER 2 0 1 4 33
judgment and make effective decisions, but to be able the importance of being tenacious, as well as that of
to communicate decisions persuasively as they communi- other traits such as persistence, intensity of effort, hard
cate their vision. Being a persuasive communicator goes work, and drive. During his interview, John Dasburg,
beyond rote communication to encompass elements the chairman and CEO of ASTAR Air Cargo, Inc.,
of inspiration and motivation. Sixty-one CEO com- talked to us about hiring and promoting people. “I
ments describe this trait as the ability to define vision, want to see how hard they work. There are a lot of
to articulate, establish a connection with people, and to people out there that I’ve had working for me along
motivate and inspire. Peter Drucker believed that lis- the years that have been brighter than me . . . but who
tening and communicating are two of the three critical just ran out of steam around three in the afternoon.”
competencies of a leader, as he mentions in his book,
One of the best examples of tenacity in our research
Managing the Non-Profit Organization. Cesar Conde,
comes from a first-person experience of one of the au-
president of Univision Networks, explains, “A leader
thors while serving as president of Florida International
has to be able to articulate vision or strategy and the
University (FIU) in Miami and his quest to establish a
direction they are going, because you can have the best
law school there. He recounts the trajectory.
idea or concept, and [if you] can’t articulate it, it’s not
going to be any good.” In 1988, the proposal for a College of Law was
presented to the state university system’s govern-
Connecting with people involves the complemen-
ing board. We were literally laughed out of the
tary talents of being a persuasive communicator and
room and no consideration was given to our pro-
being an effective listener when knowing your audi-
posal. In 1993, during the planning process for
ence is crucial. Steve Appleton explained to us, “I
the next five-year cycle, we tried again and secured
have found that good leaders have to be adaptable
only one vote (out of thirteen) from a good friend,
in their approach, in their personality. Good leaders
Regent Perla Tabares Hantman from Miami. In
are like good actors in that they can adapt to the
1998 we were poised to try again, but board chair-
role. The way I approach one executive may be com-
man Dennis Ross from Tampa requested that we
pletely different than the way I approach another
postpone until the next year, because 1998 was
executive.” From a global perspective, Appleton
a gubernatorial election year and our law school
highlights the differences in building persuasive re-
project could become embroiled in gubernatorial
lationships between people of different cultures, tell-
politics. We complied.
ing us, “You have to recognize cultural differences
and value differences and how you approach people, When we tried for the fourth time we achieved
because [people] are very, very different.” three votes in favor, in part by linking with Florida
A&M’s similar goal of establishing a law school.
One group that was solidly behind us was our
6. Leading with Tenacity south Florida legislative delegation that pleaded
with the board to approve our proposal. State
Even the most skilled and experienced CEOs make
Representative Alex Villalobos said, “Today, we
mistakes. When we asked the twenty-five CEOs in our
appear before you as plaintiffs, tomorrow when
sample to tell us about major judgment lapses, twenty-
you seek approval of your budget, the tables will
one out of twenty-five readily explained how lack of
be reversed.” Notwithstanding the not-so-veiled
knowledge regarding the relevant business, personal
threat, our law school was not approved, nor was
factors, or failure to rely on their intuition led them
the law school of historically black Florida A&M.
to make significant errors. The key, they said, was to
The vote was ten to three.
persevere and work hard in the face of adversity. That
is why tenacity is the sixth essential talent of the CEO. The following year, 2001, with our encourage-
Roughly 15 percent or sixty-seven comments illustrate ment, a coalition of south Florida and north
34 leader to leader
Florida legislators dissolved the Florida Board of role-playing, and having wise mentors. Listening and
Regents. Henceforth universities would be gov- communicating can be improved by deliberate prac-
erned by individual boards of trustees, not by a tice and coaching. Each of the competencies serves to
statewide board. strengthen and leverage judgment. Judgment can also
get better with experience and feedback from mentors.
Our new local board promptly and unanimously
The best leadership development programs seek to
approved our proposal for a law school, and
develop executives in some, if not all, of these areas.
with a political push from our delegation led by
one of our state senators, Mario Diaz-Balart, the Tenacity may be the most difficult competency to
Florida Senate voted 40–0 to approve, the House improve because tenacity is both a learned behav-
120–0. The governor signed the bill. FIU had a ior and also part of your intrinsic personality. The
law school. Last year, the FIU law school led all place to start is by getting a measure of your tenacity.
Florida law schools in bar passage rate. Tenacity, as described here, is similar to the “grit”
construct proposed by Professor Angela Duckworth
This twenty-three-year process exemplifies what we
from the University of Pennsylvania. Duckworth has
think CEOs meant by tenacity.
developed a twelve-item grit scale published in the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that ranks
Outliers grit on a 1–5 scale.
The six competencies we identified encompass 88 per- The good news is that whatever your starting point,
cent of the comments mentioned during the interviews. you can get better. Grit gets better with practice, es-
The remaining 12 percent—fifty-three comments—in- pecially deliberate practice; with self-coaching, self-
clude humility, health, balance, ambition, and intel- analysis, or with the help of outside coaching. One
ligence. Although these other comments totaled 12 approach is to set challenging goals and analyze how
percent, no single subgroup or idea accounted for more you go about achieving them. Why did you not try
than 2 percent. A possible conclusion for the lack of harder? What kinds of obstacles are difficult for you to
significance given to these important traits during the bridge? Celebrate and reward yourself when you suc-
course of the interviews is that at least some—for ex- ceed. Ask your mentors for help.
ample, intelligence and education—may be assumed
by the CEOs. When providing their responses, the
executives may consider at least some of these to be Conclusion
prerequisites in advancing to the high ranks of the cor- We interviewed twenty-five successful executives about
porate world and may not have felt the need to men- what is critical for leadership because we wanted to
tion them. hear their firsthand accounts. We didn’t want idio-
syncrasies—we wanted to know which themes would
emerge regarding effective leadership. After carefully
Improving Your Leadership scrutinizing the interviews, a picture appeared that
Quotient centers on six core competencies.
The good news about our results is that all of the six The six competencies can be organized around three
competencies can be improved. There are a number of themes: wisdom, persuasion, and resilience. To act in
initiatives one can undertake to improve self-awareness: a wise manner, a leader must understand who she is,
personality tests, 360-degree evaluations, life jour- be comfortable in her own skin, have a clear and ethi-
ney and values exercises. Similarly we can hone our cal sense of direction, be able to build relationships of
moral compasses by discussing cases in which moral trust with others, and to actively listen with an open
values play a part, by doing action-oriented exercises, mind. But, who is a leader without followers? A leader
WINTER 2 0 1 4 35
must also inspire, visualize a compelling future, and
gain the loyalty of others: to persuade. Last, leaders
have to be able to rise from the ashes, to snatch vic-
tory from the jaws of defeat, to adapt, to persist: to
be tenacious.
In their own words, CEOs believe in the effectiveness
of wise, persuasive, and resilient leaders. Work on im-
proving these six competencies and you will be vastly
more effective. As Euripides once said, “Try first thyself
and after call in God.”
Modesto A. Maidique, PhD, is executive direc-
tor of the Center for Leadership in the College
of Business at Florida International University
(FIU) and the Alvah H. Chapman Jr. Eminent
Scholar in Leadership. From 1986 to 2009,
Maidique served as president of FIU and led its
transformation from a comprehensive univer-
sity to a major research university classified in
the highest ranking awarded by the Carnegie
Foundation. Under Maidique’s leadership, FIU
grew to more than forty thousand students and
established accredited Colleges of Medicine, Law,
Engineering, and Architecture. Prior to FIU,
Maidique held academic appointments at MIT,
Harvard, and Stanford Universities. He is the
coauthor or contributing author of ten books and
numerous articles.
36 leader to leader
Candace Atamanik is research manager with the Ruthann B. Perez is an adjunct research assis-
Center for Leadership at Florida International tant with the Center for Leadership at Florida
University. Her research focuses on leadership International University and a human resources
development using a framework of personality, and business consultant, specializing in talent
values, and decision making. Candace has a mas- management/workforce agility, career transition,
ter of science degree in industrial/organizational and change management throughout North and
psychology from Florida International Univer- South America. Ruthann has a master of sci-
sity and has presented peer-reviewed research at ence degree in human resource management from
conferences such as the Society for Industrial and Florida International University. Previously she
Organizational Psychology and the International worked as a general manager, heading business
Leadership Association. Previously, Candace was units for large global organizations.
an adjunct professor of research methods and psy-
chological assessment for the Department of Psy-
chology at Florida International University.
WINTER 2 0 1 4 37
